Some Legends Told
by Ziva- Zia- Z
Summary: Their story became one for the ages, a cautionary tale, a forbidden love story that rivaled even that of the Bard's great Romeo and Juliet... and yet, beneath the magic and mystery, she was simply a girl, who fell in love with a boy. Zani's first Dovekeepers fanfic, written not long after she bought the book back in 2011.


**Some Legends Told**

 **Rifiuto: N** **on Miriena**

 **Summary: Their story became one for the ages, a cautionary tale, a forbidden love story that rivaled even that of the Bard's great _Romeo and Juliet_... and yet, beneath the magic and mystery, she was simply a girl, who fell in love with a boy. Zani's first _Dovekeepers_ fanfic, written not long after she bought the book back in 2011.**

 _"Some legends are told_  
 _Some turn to dust or to gold_  
 _But you will remember me_  
 _Remember me, for centuries_  
 _Just one mistake_  
 _Is all it will take_  
 _We'll go down in history_  
 _Remember me for centuries_  
 _Hey, hey, hey_  
 _Remember me for centuries."_

 _\- Fall Out Boy,_

 _Centuries,_

 _American Beauty/American Psycho Album_

 _2014_

 _Ashan; dahm; mah-vet._

Smoke; blood; death... what had once been a makeshift home, what had once belonged to us, to the defiers of Rome, was now crumbling around us, the roofs caving in, the taste of blood scenting the air, people calling out to one another as they tried to flee, only to be cut down where they stood. I prayed, silently, that Yael and Revka managed to get out with the children.

For my fate was written as thickly within the blood that had earlier poured from my womb as it had been tied to the water which ruled me.

I took a deep breath; I'd watched my darling boy, my Adir, and my beloved Aziza... my little Rebekah, be sliced open; innocent lambs for the slaughter. Though Aziza had fought, for it was the warrior within her, she'd been powerless against the forces that be. Our fates had been long tied together, from the moment she was conceived...

My gaze flicked up; he stood before me, his clothing covered in blood, his grey eyes clouding with pain at innocent lives he'd been forced to take. His sword clattered to the ground as he rushed towards me; I rose, accepting him into my arms, our lips brushing softly together in a kiss that soon began to consume both of us. It had always been this way, from the time we were children; this fire, this desire we both lived by-

"My one true wife."

I met his gaze, a small smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as I reached up, brushing the hair from his eyes. His gaze moved down to my midsection, and I felt, rather than heard, the questions he longed to ask. Slowly, I reached down, covering my womb; I could still feel the blood flowing down my legs, no longer torrents, but singular drizzles, small rivers of red that stained my skin and colored the material of my skirts.

I shook my head, taking his hand and leading him into what had been my home for three years, the door shutting softly behind us. Suddenly, the boy of thirteen I had known, my beloved cousin, was standing once more before me, his touch gentle- as gentle as the night we had been granted permission to create our beloved child, my beautiful Aziza, by the heavens.

My mother's words rang loud and pounding in my head as he gently untied the cloak that flowed about my shoulders, casting it to the floor and leaving me in only my simple dress of dark blue cloth.

 _"Here is the riddle of love: Everything it gives you, it takes away."_

And true, love had taken much from me, and yet, it had given me much in return as well. At the tender age of thirteen, I had been blessed with a child, a beautiful little girl whom shared his grey eyes. This man, that had once been a mere boy, of whom I'd met at a well in Jerusalem, a pitcher clasped tight within my grasp, had tied me to him through blood and acts shared only between a husband and wife.

My clothing soon fell to the dirt and stone beneath my feet, leaving me in only the skin I had been born within; I did not need the water's mirror to know of the swirling tattoos that danced across my back and chest, signifying the fate I was given long before my birth. And just as he had that long ago day by the well, he brushed his fingers against my skin- though now, he no longer claimed that being of the same blood and touching was a sin, a brother who touched a sister.

He made no such excuses, for no longer was he the boy of eighteen I had met at twelve; we had loved and created and ruined together, as our fate had foretold. And just as I did not care then, I did not care now, for he had taken me and had me and possessed me as a woman wished to be possessed. My gaze moved to the window, and I saw and felt the past entwine with the future- I could hear Yael's footsteps as she carried my precious Yonah from the chaos that had sent our once ordered world toppling into the universe's abyss, and feel the heartbeat of the young child I had once looked on as my own, that other lifetime ago in Jerusalem.

His hands slid about my waist, pulling me to him, splaying over my stomach and sliding down between my legs, and our mouths met in a hunger that had consumed me from the moment of my birth. My eyes closed as our mouths met in desperation, and the words I had once spoke to Yael, when I was little more than a child myself, slipped from my lips when I pulled away.

 _"If I do as you wish, then you must abide by my wishes in return."_

His grey eyes sparked, and he caught my mouth once more in his. What was once wed in secret, in deeds and words, and then separated by hate and fear, and then brought back together again was now tied forever, joined within by blood. _Adonai_ willing, our daughter would survive, for our first had passed with a knife at her throat and Amram's arms around her, her ruse discovered by the man who'd loved her and whom had once been her infatuation before she had stepped within Yoav's embrace, discovering a love tighter than any curse.

He said not a word, just pulled me closer, tasting the depth of my element. His own clothing soon fell to join mine, and our bodies collided as we moved to lay among the blankets of my bed.

Gently, he traced a finger down my face, studying me, even as the stench of fire, blood and Death slid beneath the door and through the window towards us.

"Death walks beside us, but not with us. We must not fear it."

I laughed softly; a throaty giggle that brought a ray of sunlight across his face as he smiled.

 _Oh, you beautiful, beautiful stubborn man._

I kissed him, accepting the taste of him as I had always done, for our souls had entwined with our births; _Adonai_ had made it so. Despite the blood trickling from between my legs, I accepted him into me, pulling him closer and burying my face in his shoulder as my nails pierced his skin, leaving small crescents that allowed our souls to cross and join together. I wept, deeply, painfully; desperate to resist Death, to cast my fate aside and remain within his arms for all eternity, even as King Herod's fortress burned around us.

When he slipped from me, I shook my head, refusing to allow us to part once more, but he kissed my tears away. His lips were soft, as they brushed against my skin. "We shall soon be joined within Shechinah, Cousin. And then not even _Adonai_ himself will bear to part us."

Once more, I kissed him, holding him to me, trying to memorize him before I allowed the World-to-Come to envelope me. With tears in his own eyes, he lifted the dagger, stained red with blood. I glanced at it, before meeting his gaze. My hand slid up to caress his, guiding it gently towards my throat. My gaze clouded with tears as I forced him to slice open my throat, before gathering the last of my fading strength and doing the same to him.

The knife dropped to the bed, and he collapsed beside me; I could feel the blood dripping down my skin with each weakening breath.

 _Cousin, you were wrong. Love is not our undoing; it is our saving. My beloved, we were born to live._

As my eyes closed, I tasted his mouth once more on mine. Our souls entwined together as the World-To-Come settled around us and the world we had once lived in faded away.

I had been called Witch, had loved a man who led hundreds, and held back a Roman garrison for three years. I was born of water, and it was my element that saved Yael and Revka and the children; I had made sure of it, even as I walked into the World-to-Come with Eleazar by my side. I had sent doves to Yael, to warn her when it would be time for them to flee, I had made sure that Revka saw me within the largest of the cisterns, for I had already foreseen what fate held in store and had determined that fate allowed for only seven lives to survive.

I knew that long ago day that my life would not be one of them.

I had taught Yael so that she would survive; so she would take my name, and thereby, change her fate. Yael, and Yael alone, can tell the story of this fortress; I had foreseen it long ago.

Love had ruined me, and love had spared my last child, and it is with love that I will stand at the gates of the World-to-Come, and greet my child when _Adonai_ calls her home. But until that time, I will watch and guide them, with Eleazar at my side.

After all, we are no different than the doves that saved us.


End file.
